A masters Rugby League Festival is being staged at Fartown at the beginning of next month.

Teams from Huddersfield, Kippax, Halifax Irish and Leeds Akkies will be taking part in a tournament being held in the build-up to the England v Ireland World Cup match at the John Smith’s Stadium on Saturday, November 2.

The festival gets under way at 10.30am, giving players and supporters more than enough time to watch England and Ireland in action at 2.30pm.

That means RL fans in the town could be treated to a full-day feast of action, with Masters Rugby gaining in popularity all the time.

Masters is a social version of the sport with rules that are modified to suit the older player. There are no winners, no champions and no cup finals – it’s all about the spirit of the game.

Players are classed in age groups, each denoted by different coloured shorts and socks.

Age group 35 to 49 wear white and are tackled normally; 50 to 59 wear red and these players must be stopped and held in defence and must make a definite two-handed hold on the attacker; 60-plus means you wear gold and play as touch rugby.

The basic rules are the same as the full 13-a-side game, but the defensive line only go back 5m, there are only two defenders allowed in the tackle, rough and over vigorous play is not condoned, kicks are only permitted on the last tackle and the games are 25 minutes each way.

There are unlimited substitutions allowed so everyone who needs a breather is catered for!

Players are needed for the Huddersfield side – you need to be over 35 to play, with no upper limit as long as you feel fit enough.

If interested, please e-mail Adam Swift (Swifts2@sky.com) or talk to Mark Wells on 07939 493695. Masters has been running successfully in the Halifax area for a while now and it would be good to have a regular side in Huddersfield.

Meanwhile, St Joseph’s Under 11s travelled to Batley Boys to play an inter-divisional fixture, with the hosts taking the honours 16-10 in a clash between two evenly-matched sides.

Within 10 minutes the Boys had opened up a 10-point lead and it was looking ominous for Joe’s.

But all credit to the visitors for holding firm, maintaining the gameplan. and hitting back with a try to Lewis to make it 10-4 at the break.

Batley Boys were the first to strike in the second half to make it 16-4.

But again Joe’s showed great spirit and determination to get back in the game, and a ball steel on their 30m line saw the ball move wide for Lewis to collect.

Once in top gear, no-one was going to catch him on his 70m dash to the tryline.

Ethan Myers added the conversion to reduce the deficit to six points, but good Batley defending prevented Joe’s from scoring an equalising try.

The Opposition’s Man of the Match for Joe’s was Ike Vangrove, Most Improved Player Deshon Cuniffe, Grafter Ethan Myers, Magic Moment Kai McDonald and Man of the Match Omar Simpson